Many plants of this family are of economic importance and contribute to people’s livelihoods. The Rosaceae contain a great number of fruit trees of temperate regions. The fruits contain vitamins, acids, and sugars and can be used both raw and for making preserves, jam, jelly, candy, various drinks, wine, vinegar, etc. The dried fruits of the genera Amygdalus and Armeniaca are of high commercial value. Some plants in the genus Rosa containing essential oils or with a high vitamin content are used in industry. Rosaceae wood is used for making various articles, stems and roots are used for making tannin extract, and young leaves are used as a substitute for tea. Numerous species are used for medical purposes or are cultivated as ornamentals.

The Rosaceae are very well represented in China, with great economic and scientific importance. The Co-chairs of the Editorial Committee (Wu
and Raven) here note that the patterns of relationship are complex and the group is taxonomically difficult. We consider the following treatment to be
relatively traditional, with some of the generic treatments arguably out of date. The same applies to the arrangement of the subfamilies, among which
the Maloideae may be the most advanced and should therefore appear last. We regard this account, the first comprehensive, English-language treatment
of the Rosaceae of China, as preliminary, but consider it a useful guide for the recognition of species. Significant revisions of various groups
within the family will certainly be necessary as taxonomic studies proceed.